Scotia Part 3 – Marking out Plots

The third day was spent marking out pits. Basically, these were 2m x 2m square plots with a metal stake on the north corner and then tent pegs on the other 3 corners, plus one in the centre. Each stake was marked with a copper tag with its density and type. For this, I created a lightweight contraption which would mark out the 4 corners for me. It was also adjustable, in that it would also mark the corners of 1m x 1m squares if we needed to make the plots smaller. It was essentially, 2 pieces of conduit which were joined in the centre by a bolt. This would allow it to collapse and be carried around easily. These were the diagonals of the square. I then had one more conduit piece which was 1 metre long. This was at the right distance to make sure that it held the diagonals in place to form a square. Here is a photo of it in action.

You can see the coupling joiners which allow it to collapse to 1m x 1m as well as the 1m long arm which fixed it all into place. This was also just held there by a bolt which it slotted over (not bolted down), so it could collapse and easily between plots.